Too Hot To Handle had a wild concept, even for a dating show. Set at an idyllic resort, attractive, swimsuit-clad contestants couldn't touch each other for a month, or they risked losing money from their $100,000 grand prize. But it's not the only reality series out there to entertain viewers with steamy scenes, dramatic moments, and big twists. There are actually quite a few other shows like Too Hot To Handle out there that are similarly jaw-dropping and deserving of a spot on your watch list.
If you were a fan of the emotion-exploration side of Too Hot To Handle, you may enjoy the more raw look at relationships in TLC's 90 Day Fiancé or Netflix's Back With The Ex. If you're more into watching attractive singles wander around in their bathing suits all day, something like Bachelor in Paradise or Love Island might be more up your alley. If you want to see something a bit more game show-esque, Baggage might be your jam.
Long story short, even though Too Hot To Handle is wild in its own right, it's not like it's in a league of its own. Here are 21 other shows to get you started — many are available with a streaming subscription service or TV provider login.
In the United States, foreigners can get a visa to live in the country after proving they're engaged to be married to a U.S. citizen. The catch is, this visa only lasts 90 days, meaning the couples on TLC's 90 Day Fiancé have to decide within that time if they should tie the knot with their long-distance love or move on.
You can also check out the spinoffs: 90 Day Fiancé: Before The 90 Days shows the process of international couples dating, and 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After reveals what happens to the couples after they wed.
As the name hints, this documentary series follows couples with significant age gaps. You might need to dig a bit to watch the episodes, since they're no longer on Netflix, but a YouTube search could be a good start.
If you're looking for another dating show with a huge cash prize, this is it. Contestants are paired into couples by the producers via a matchmaking algorithm, and they must determine who their "perfect match" is while they all live together in a house. If they get it right, they could win a collective cash prize of up to $1 million.
Seasons 1 through 7 featured heterosexual couples, while Season 8 featured LGBT couples. Season 8 is available with a TV provider login on MTV's website. Prior seasons are available for purchase on Amazon.
The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are the obvious go-to shows when you're thinking about reality dating series, and there's a good reason for that. The king and queen of the Bachelor franchise, these series are both long-running and widely watched, and they often serve as inspiration for many of the newer shows in the genre.
There are plenty of seasons to keep you busy, and they're available to watch on a variety of platforms.
If Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants don't find love when they're on the show, they're a potential Bachelor In Paradise pick. Franchise producers take the most entertaining and unique contestants from across seasons and bring them to a tropical paradise retreat, where they're free to explore relationships with anyone there. Several couples have resulted from BIP, so you know there are a few happy endings on the horizon when you watch this one.
Bachelor Pad is another Bachelor franchise spinoff, but this series has more on the line than just love: a $250,000 prize. First, contestants vote who they want eliminated from the house (like Survivor), and then eventually split into couples to compete together. The end competition is a Dancing With The Stars-type ballroom dance performance.
After three seasons, Bachelor Pad was replaced by Bachelor In Paradise, but the series is still available to purchase on various platforms.
In the latest spinoff in the prolific Bachelor franchise, all of the singles on the show are musically inclined, and try to find love while going on romantic dates and creating the perfect duet. Though there wasn't any singing involved on Too Hot To Handle, the partner-swapping and competition aspect are similar in Listen To Your Heart.
In Back with the Ex, four former couples have the chance to reunite and see if they want to rekindle their relationship. Though there's only one season, it's packed with enough drama and introspection to get even Lana interested.
Baggage is actually a Game Show Network series, so it not be the most romantic dating show, but it is seriously interesting. Three potential matches reveal their biggest pieces of baggage anonymously, and eventually the contestant chooses one match. But before they can go on a date, the contestant reveals some baggage of their own, and the chosen match gets the final say of whether or not they'll go on a date.
With the help of Nev Schulman, the show's host, Catfish gives real-life people the chance to uncover the truth about their online relationships. This show gives a seriously real look at the lengths some people will go through — and the people they'll pretend to be — to get close to a specific person.
This show is all about quantity over quality when it comes to dating. Each episode of Dating Around shows one single going on five first dates. At the end, they get to choose one person to see again. It's awkward, cute, and real — just like any first date is. It's available to stream on Netflix.
If you liked the kooky aspect of Too Hot To Handle, Dating Naked is for you. Filmed in a remote location, the series follows contestants going on a first date completely nude, to break down all of their preconceived notions. Episodes are available on VH1's website with a TV provider login.
If you somehow missed the social media frenzy around Love Is Blind, here's the gist: Couples date each other in isolation pods, and must choose to get engaged or leave the "social experiment" completely before ever seeing each other. The final episode ends in a wedding, where things get real AF, so I'd tune in to Netflix sooner rather than later to watch this one.
Love Island is very much like Too Hot To Handle. Attractive singles? Check. Not enough beds for every contestant? Check. Swimwear 24/7? Check. A cheeky narrator? Yup, it has that too.
This UK show, which has also gotten spinoffs in Australia and the U.S., follows a group of singles living together and trying to "couple up" and have a good time while doing so. You can watch the UK and Australia versions on Hulu, and the U.S. version is on the CBS website.
In this series, couples who are tired of dating get paired up by a matchmaker and agree to marry their chosen companion — seeing them for the first day at the wedding isle. It follows the couples after their marriage, as they determine if they can make their union work, or if they'd prefer to jump back into the dating pool. You can all nine seasons on Lifetime's website, and you don't even need a TV provider login.
Matchmaker Patti Stanger tries to find the perfect match for some of the wealthiest people out there. It's a pretty interesting look at what the dating process is like when working with a matchmaker. You can watch the latest season on Hulu.
In this show, singles live together in a hotel resort and compete to see who can stay there the longest. Each week, contestants pair into couples and must share a hotel room. There's always one contestant left out, and they have to find a match the next week or they'll be voted off.
Yet another show hosted in a beautiful, tropical setting, Temptation Island features contestants who split up and agree to live with a group of singles of the opposite sex to test their relationships. Check out Season 1 and 2 on NBC's website.
This Japanese realty show features six strangers from different walks of life, who live under the same roof while they date each other. They get to go about their normal lives while on the show (i.e. they still go to work), so it's an interesting twist on a traditional dating show. Check it out on Netflix.
This show is less about romantic relationships than it is about friendships and the modern world of technology. It's one of those shows that has a wildly unique concept, where a contestant's goal is to get the other contestants to like them — all through a made-up social media app. Some people choose another persona while others choose to just be themselves, and in the end a $100,000 cash prize goes to the winner. It's available on Netflix.
